Something in the dark
by silvermooncatgirl
Summary: When Ash and Dawn visit a spooky village they discover they have followers... and not the nice kind.
1. Chapter 1

The darkness was pressing. Only a thin beam of light from a street lamp showed the two figures standing huddled in long coats and scarves.

"Where are they?" breathed one of them; the voice was female.

"I don't know... I heard from the force that they would be here by now," replied the other, a male, in a whisper.

"We've been tricked," mutterred the female in a sing-song way.

"No," said the man harshly. His voice bounded off the icy ground and the figures tensed, heads whipping around in search of anyone who could have stumbled upon their night watch.

There was no-one.

"That was a clever thing to do," remarked the female quietly. "And you being my superior."

"Shh!" the man hissed.

"What?"

"I will not have you talking to me like that! You are despensible, you know!"

"Oh, yes," breathed the female. "SO despensible, because I know all the company's secrets, thanks to you, don't I?"

"You--you cannot speak like this to me! I am your boss!" whispered the man, anger choking his voice into strangled speaking volume.

"Shhh," the female said, laying a hand companiably on his arm. He jerked it away and glared at her. The woman sniffed contemptuously and then flung a Poke Ball out from the layers of her coat.

An Espeon landed neatly on the ground in front of them. It's eyes were luminous in the dark.

"Search around, Espeon," whispered the woman. Espeon bounded lightly into the shadows.

"What?" asked the man.

"What do you mean?"

"Why send that thing?" The man's voice was thick with sarcasm. "I mean, it's purple. It's going to stand out."

"Oh, right," said the woman. She did nothing to call back Espeon, so the man threw his own Poke Ball. She could see nothing until three glowing yellow patches appeared in mid-air. Then two yellow eyes opened and surveyed the couple with disdain.

"Umbreon," muttered the woman. "Typical, I should have known."

"Go," said the man shortly.

Umbreon slipped into the shadows.

* * *

"Hurry up!" Dawn hissed, not wanting to raise her voice too much in the dark quiet street.

"I am," Ash said. He struggled with Pikachu, who had fallen asleep wrapped around his legs and was weighing him down considerably.

"Come on, come on, come on," Dawn muttered, hopping from one foot to the other with the cold.

"I am!" Ash repeated. He managed to disentangle Pikachu from around his legs and followed Dawn down the side street leading to the small bed and breakfast where they were staying.

"I told you we shouldn't have gone 'late night training'," Dawn scoffed.

"Shh," Ash said, stiffening suddenly. "I heard something."

"Course you did," Dawn said. "Hurry up, Ash, please, it's freezing out here."

"I will in a minute," Ash said, wandering off in the opposite direction.

"Ash!" Dawn complained.

"I heard something!" Ash insisted. "Wait a min-- Woah!"

Ash tripped over seemingly nothing. He went sprawling onto the ground. Dawn saw a flash of yellow and heard the smallest of mewing noises.

"Ouch!" Ash said. Dawn shook her head, thinking, _I'm just tired_, and pulled Ash to his feet.

"Now come on!" she hissed, dragging him off.

Ash looked around and was sure he saw a dark shadow leap over a small fence blocking someone's house from view.


	2. Chapter 2

The morning sun streamed into Dawn's window. She opened her eyes, glanced at the clock (9 o clock) and settled down under the duvet to go back to sleep.

As she did so, Dawn caught sight of something out of her window; a shadow crossing the sun.

"What the-?" Dawn muttered to herself, pushing herself out of bed, and crossing to the window.

She peered out and saw a purple tail vanish behind a rose bush in the neat and pretty garden of the owner of the bed and breakfast. Dawn rubbed her eyes and blinked down to where the tail was swishing to and fro like a metronome.

"I better tell Ash," Dawn said to herself. She turned around. And screamed.

* * *

When Ash heard Dawn's scream, he jumped out of bed and charged down the hallway. He wrenched open her door and saw her cowering against the wall. An Umbreon was advancing on her, teeth bared. It was hard to make out the shape of the Pokemon in the sunlight, but Ash could see the faint outline of the raised back and snarling teeth.

"Dawn!" Ash cried. "Pikachu! Go!"

Pikachu, which had been enjoying a nap on Ash's deserted bed, leapt from it and charged down the hall.

"Thunderbolt!" Ash cried, and Dawn closed her eyes as she and the Umbreon were shocked with powerful rays of crackling electricity. The Umbreon crumpled briefly and jumped from the room, but Dawn's eyes closed and she slid down the wall to lie on the floor.

"Dawn!" Ash said, kneeling down beside her and lifting her chin. Her head lolled and she opened one eye.

"Ow," she muttered.

"Dawn! You're alright," Ash said, getting up hastily as Dawn heaved herself upright. "I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to do!"

"Idiot," Dawn sniffed. "What was that?!"

"An Umbreon," Ash said, musingly. "I wonder why it attacked you? Pokemon never attack people."

"No," Dawn agreed. "They don't..."

She crossed to the window; the lilac tail had vanished.

"What's up?" Ash asked, as Dawn slapped her forehead with her palm.

"It's just so confusing!" Dawn exclaimed. "Why should I see..." she gestured to the window, "a Pokemon's tail from my window, and then get attacked by one!"

"I don't know!" Ash exclaimed, slightly taken-aback from her outburst. "But, seriously, Dawn. What did the tail look like?"

Dawn racked her brains. "It was lilac," she recounted. "It had two forks at the end."

Ash thought too, the both of them submerged in silence. Ash got out his Poke Dex and scrolled down the electronic list of Pokemon pictures. "Espeon," he said.

"Oh," Dawn said, thinking of an Espeon. "Yes, that's right."

"And you were attacked by an Umbreon? Someone has an Eevee fetish," Ash remarked. Dawn laughed.

"Yeah," she agreed. "So, what do we do?"

"I say the sooner we get out of this place the better," Ash said, suddenly serious.

"Why?" Dawn asked, bewildered.

"Because there's someone watching us from the garden."


	3. Chapter 3

It was true. Dawn looked carefully out of the window, hardly moving, hardly even daring to breathe now, and saw the two figures.

One waved at her.

"Oh, my God," Dawn hissed. "Ash, who are they?"

"Team Rocket?" Ash hastened a guess.

Dawn surveyed him sceptically. "Oh, Ash, when will you learn?" she asked, exasperated. "Team Rocket have a load of really terrible disguises; we always know it's them. These look different."

"You can not tell when Team Rocket are in disguise!" Ash said, indignant.

"Yes, I can," Dawn corrected. " I just pretend for your sake."

"Oh. Right," Ash said, somewhat hurt.

"But that's not what we should be worrying about!" Dawn said. "It's not Team Rocket, I know that, so who are they? They look scary."

"Yes," Ash agreed. "Pikachu?"

Pikachu looked up from where it had been dozing on Dawn's bed.

"Will you go into the gardens for us? Spy on those two people down there."

"Ash! Shh!" Dawn hissed, agonised. "They might be able to hear us!"

"Nah, they won't."

"Oh, I think you'll find we can," came a voice from the corner of the room. Both Dawn and Ash spun around foolishly, but nothing was there.

"A microphone," said the same silky voice. "We hid it last night."

"Hush," said another voice, and when Dawn peered out of the window she saw that the man was talking now.

"We want you to come outside now," he said. "You won't be hurt."

"Badly," muttered the woman.

"No," the man said. "You won't be hurt at all."

"Badly," she repeated.

* * *

"All I'm saying," said the woman, whose name was Agent Jackson. "Is that those kids look much cleverer than the normal type."

"Even the boy?" asked the man, whose name was Corporal Jones. "He looks stupid. The girl said so."

"Well." Agent Jackson cleared her throat and turned the microphone on again. "Excuse me," she said, politely. She saw the kid's heads appear at the window. She waved again. The boy waved back.

"There you go," Corporal Jones said, smartly reaching over and switching the microphone off. "The boy waved."

"Yes," agreed Agent Jackson.

"So what do we do now? They don't look like they're going to come to us."

"No, they don't," mused Agent Jackson. "Let's go in and fetch them!"

"For once," Corporal Jones said unwillingly. "That is a good idea."

* * *

"Ash! What are we going to do?"

Dawn was in a panic-y frenzy.

"Calm down," Ash said, sitting down on Dawn's bed. "We just wait for them to come up here and then get Pikachu to attack them."

"But that... that's dangerous," Dawn said. She quailed under Ash's glower momentarily. "It is!" she persisted forcefully. "You nearly knocked me out," she added, to Pikachu.

"Well, what else can we do?" Ash said.

"This, perhaps?" came the mocking voice of Corporal Jones, as he and Agent Jackson stormed into the room. They both flung Poke Balls high into the air (Agent Jackson's hit the ceiling but she pretended not to notice the cast quantities of plaster dust that showered her) and released their Pokemon.

Corporal Jones' Raticate was a horrible thing; huge glistening teeth and sharp claws. Agent Jackson had a Venemoth, which looked beautiful, but the moment it opened its wings Ash and Dawn felt their limbs go numb.

"Paralysis!" Ash groaned, as he and Dawn keeled over. Ash was stranded on the bed, legs still bent in a sitting position, and Dawn fell to the floor like a statue.

"Now..." Agent Jackson said sweetly, as she and Corporal Jones advanced upon the helpless trainers. "The question really is... What are we going to do with you?"


	4. Chapter 4

Ash and Dawn rattled along in the back of the Raider's (for that was what they called themselves) truck. It was uncomfortably hot, and they were tied together which made it even warmer. They still couldn't move; the Venemoth's paralysis was powerful.

"Nearly there now," trilled Agent Jackson. She and Corporal Jones were seated in the front of the van, and it was with great pleasure that they would raise their full water bottles to their mouths every so often to sip the cool water within, when they knew Ash and Dawn were parched in the back of the vehicle.

"Good," Dawn said, making an attempt to be sarcastic. She could't manage; she and Ash were exhausted, but it was hard to sleep tied together, and even harder in the heat and with the constant rattling engine below them.

"Yes, isn't it," agreed Corporal Jones, who was driving.

Ash looked nervously across the back of the van to where the Raiders Pokemon and Pikachu, were sitting. Or rather,the Pokemon were lying, panting with heat and thirst. Umbreon was the most vicious, in its hunger it had taken a snap at Ash's right leg and left a thin trickle of blood, which had congealed on his jeans. The Espeon, Venemoth, Raticate and Pikachu were slumped against each other or the wall, and despite their owners, Dawn's heart went out to them.

"'Scuse me," she called hesitantly. Agent Jackson spun around.

"What?" she snapped.

"Well, erm, I was wondering whether your Pokemon might need something to drink," Dawn said, realising how innocent and little she sounded. Agent Jackson seemed to agree, because she cackled with laughter and then lowered her sunglasses to look straight at Dawn.

"Oh, no," she said, and there was something about her voice that Dawn detected as suspicious. "No, they won't need anything. They'll get what they deserve a little later on." Still giggling under her breath, Agent Jackson shut the little glass panel that seperated the front of the van, where the Raiders sat, with the back, which Dawn now realised, was a prison.

"Dawn, we have to escape," Ash suddenly hissed in her ear.

"Well, yeah," Dawn said.

"No, I mean, now," Ash said. "Look."

He jerked his head slightly (the paralysis was wearing off slightly) out of the tiny square window. In the distance, Dawn could see the thin winding road, a mahogany red sand road, which led to...

"A camp?" Dawn breathed. There were tents, surely, but they weren't the usual, family camping trip tents. They were huge charcoal grey ones, with plastic rooves to let in the light, and there were vans much like the one Ash and Dawn were travelling in now dotted around the site. When Dawn strained her eyes she could just see figures milling around the tents, all dressed in black and so standing out against the red sand.

"We're in a desert!" Dawn suddenly realised. "I wondered why it was so hot."

Ash rolled his eyes. "You've been unconcious," he explained, "The Venemoth attacked you, with Sleeping Powder, and you were knocked out cold. Agent Jackson had a hard time carrying you, let me tell you!"

"Good," Dawn said scathingly. "I hope she has a bad back or something now."

"Yes, well, anyway," Ash continued. "We've been driving for at least... ooh, at least seven hours, according to this." He pointed to his wristwatch, which was cracked but still told the time.

"And we're here," said Corporal Jones from the front of the van, his loud and official sounding voice breaking through the glass panel and reaching the prison section.


	5. Chapter 5

Ash and Dawn were bundled from the van, still tied together, and brought out into the dazzling red desert. The glare from the sun burnt their skin on impact and their eyes stung and watered, but they were outside. Pikachu tottered groggily from the van too, but the Raider's Pokemon stayed put.

"Get out," snapped Agent Jackson, dragging the Espeon out of the van. The pretty lilac Pokemon winced and mewled with pain as its delicate paws touched the blistering sand. Agent Jackson took no notice.  
Both the Raiders had thick boots which went up to their thighs. They looked ridiculous, but Dawn would have liked a pair; her plimsolls were smoking softly and she was all too aware of the sand beneath her feet.

The Raider's Pokemon were shephereded from the van, pushed from it by the Agent and the Corporal.  
"C'mon, now," crooned Agent Jackson, as Venemoth refused to move. "Come on, Venemoth..." she said it softly enough, but her voice was hard, no compassion rested in the iron-like vice of her words. Venemoth fluttered helplessly around the van, but was caught by Corporal Jones. He twisted the frail wings sharply as the Pokemon was dragged from the stifling interior of the prison. The Venemoth trilled with irritation and pain, and flew lop-sidedly from Corporal Jones' clutches. It didn't get far enough and was captured easily once again.

"Right," Corporal Jones snapped, still clutching the Venemoth closely. "You kids, walk with Agent Jackson. The little yellow runt, come with me."

Pikachu trailed forlornly after the imposing figure of Corporal Jones as the party made its way towards the tents.

There were three figures waiting, and these were greeted as Agent Mills, Agent Downer and Agent Fields. All three were men, and they looked strangely at Dawn and Agent Jackson.

After a little time in the 'research camp' as Corporal Jones told them, Dawn began to notice something. She had only seen two women, including Agent Jackson. The other was a thin, tall woman who was strutting around like a peacock, wearing a white lab coat and carrying two Shellos.

"Why are there hardly any women here?" Dawn asked tentatively.

"They distract the other workers," replied Agent Mills shortly.

"We allow only the most intelligent women to work for the research teams," Agent Fields said.

"And the most cunning for the Raiders," said Agent Downer.

Ash snorted. "Looks like you're out of a job, Dawn," he chuckled. Dawn reached out to hit him and missed, hitting the hard chain of the handcuffs tying them together. She let out a yelp and was silenced by five icy glares from the Raiders and Researchers.

"Sorry," Ash whispered to Dawn, as they were frog-marched through a plastic flap and into one of the tents.

It was freezing cold inside, though the workers, smartly dressed in black suits, didn't seem to feel the cold.  
There were ornate scientific instruments dotted around on the spotless tables and countertops, with a small canteen on one side of the tent and a line of beds along the other wall. There were a few figures sitting in the canteen, while three white-garbed men stood by the glass counter which displayed the food. There were small sections cut from the tent and re-patched with mesh where heat and steam could escape from the tent.

"I'm hungry," Ash said.

"We don't care," Agent Downer said. His companions nodded in agreement.

"Oh," Ash said, wounded.

"Shh," Dawn hissed.

They were marched to a large table and forced to sit down on one of the slippery black marble benches. Agent Jackson handed them both a pen, and Corporal Jones shoved a sheaf of papers under their noses.

"Tick the correct answers," Agent Jackson instructed them. "You've got two hours."

"To get through all of this?" Dawn exclaimed. She had been the cleverest and fastest working girl at her old school, but she could barely see the Raiders and the Researchers over the stack of paper.

"What is this?" she asked Ash, as the Raiders and Researchers moved away. "It's about... Pokemon evolutions."


	6. Chapter 6

_Has a Pokemon of yours ever evolved, yes or no?  
If yes, did you notice anything strange about the evolutionary process?_

Dawn ticked and crossed. Ash ticked and crossed. An hour passed. The questions continued in the same way, mindless and boring. They couldn't bring themselves to stop, because of the fierce glares of their captors.

"I'm finished," Dawn said, about ten minutes later. Agent Jackson picked up her papers and scanned them quickly.

"Alright," she said, and reached over to untie Dawn and Ash from each other. She pulled Dawn to her feet, none too gently, and dragged her away a little to sit by another counter.

"What are you doing here?" Dawn asked, as Agent Jackson strapped her to the chair.

"Well," said Agent Jackson, feigning kindness. "Y'see, my dear, what we're doing is..." she reached over and tightened a strap behind Dawn's head, jerking it back. "This," she snapped, and flicked a switch.

Dawn felt her body go limp as something coarsed through it. She jerked a few times in the chair, feeling her eyes close. The current of... not electricity, but _something, _was freezing, numbingly cold. Dawn tried to raise a hand and heard Ash cry out her name...

* * *

"What are you DOING?" Ash yelled, leaping from his chair and trying to drag Dawn from hers. She was a dead weight, solid as stone, though she was small and slender. Ash grunted with effort as he tried to untie the thick band around her head. He slit his finger open on the metal catch and a drop of his blood dripped onto Dawn's forehead. She didn't wake up.

"Dawn!" Ash cried, feeling tears well up in his eyes. He wiped the dot of blood from her forehead and swung around to glare at the Raiders and Researchers, who had watched his performance with cold indifference.

"She's fine," said Agent Downer, bored. "And you will be too, just relax."

Agent Fields pushed Ash from Dawn's chair and into an identical one.

"No!" Ash protested, but Agent Fields was strong and buckled Ash into the chair easily. "NO!"

"Sit back and relax," Ash heard, as something cold coarsed through him...

* * *

"Ash."

Someone was calling him, but Ash couldn't identify the voice, though he knew it. He tried to lift his heavy eyelids, but they were stuck shut. He tried to open his mouth but he couldn't.

"Ash?"

"D---D---awn," Ash muttered. Each letter was like a hammer-blow, it clouded his head and made him dizzy, though he now realised he was lying down.

"Ash!" Dawn's voice broke and she hugged him fiercely. Ash felt something lick his sleeve. It was Pikachu.

"D-awn," Ash repeated, and with one arm (only one was working) he patted her awkwardly on the back.

"Oh, Ash," Dawn sobbed, breaking down completely. "I thought you were dead! You weren't even breathing, I don't think."

"I... I'm OK," Ash said, opening his eyes. "Dawn... Are you alright?"

"I think so," Dawn said. "I don't know where we are, though."

"Wha-?" Ash asked, heaving himself into a sitting posistion.

"We're in a prison, I think," Dawn said, getting up and walking a few times around the room. It was small and cramped. The walls and floor were black stone, but when Ash focused his gaze around the room he saw white chalk markings all over the wall.

"What are they?" Ash asked, sliding along the floor and trying to ignore his throbbing head.

"Someone's written on the walls," Dawn said. She had obviously read the messages before, as she didn't make any move when Ash read one out.

"Keep going," he said, "The way is clear. Matt."

"Yes," Dawn agreed. "He's written another one."

"This one," Ash said, moving over to read Matt's next message. "They took her away, my Angel."

"I'm guessing that's either his girlfriend or a Pokemon," Dawn said, sitting down in the centre of the room.

"Watch at seven," Ash read, squinting at the smallest message on the wall.

"What?" Dawn asked, peering too. "I didn't see that one."

"It's tiny," Ash marvelled. "Watch at seven... I wonder."

"Well, I don't," Dawn said. "Someone will have been so desperate to escape that they tried to send a message to some friend of theirs or something. Poor..." she looked closely at the writing. "Max."


	7. Chapter 7

"Max?" Ash repeated. "Max..."

"Max?" Dawn said, one eyebrow raised. "He's just some trainer, Ash."

"Well... I know."

"So why have you gone all weird?" Dawn demanded.

"Because I knew someone called Max, is all," Ash said. "He was May's little brother. Maybe he'll save us!"

"Lots of trainers are called Max," Dawn said softly. "No-one's coming to save us."

"Don't give up," Ash said. He slumped down in one corner, breathing heavily. The walk around the room had sapped his body of what little strength he had left.

"I have," Dawn said, and started to cry. "They took all my Pokemon away, and all yours too. Apart from Pikachu, anyway. It put up quite a fight, actually."

"All the Pokemon," Ash repeated, feeling dull sadness rear up in his stomach. "Where are they?"

"Well..." Dawn sniffed and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "Agent Jackson said..."

* * *

_"Give them back!" Dawn demanded,_ _grabbing at the Poke Balls Agent Jackson was holding so tantalisingly out of reach. _

_"No, no, my dear," Agent Jackson crooned. She laughed, harshly. _

_"Please!" Dawn wept. She tried to get up from the chair, but the current had sapped her of all her strength and she couldn't. _

_"Nah," Agent Jackson said. She bent towards Ash and dislodged the six Poke Balls from around his belt. Pikachu growled. Agent Jackson smirked as she tucked the Poke Balls into her pocket. _

_"Leave him alone," Dawn said weakly. "Give them back!"_

_In despair, she called to Pikachu; "Pikachu, thundershock!"_

_Pikachu obeyed, sending crackling bolts of yellow power from its tiny body. "Chu!" it shrieked. Agent Jackson was hit by the full force of the thundershock, and thrown backwards over a table. She sat up, lips curled into a snarl. _

_Dawn tried to get up again. This time it was easier, and she managed to worm her way onto the floor. "Pikachu," she gasped, as Agent Jackson leapt to her feet. "Thundershock!" _

_Agent Jackson was thrown backwards again... Dawn had used all her energy and felt her eyes closing..._

"Well done, Pikachu," said Ash, stroking Pikachu's head as he listened to Dawn's story.

"Well done, Pikachu," Dawn and Ash heard, and whipped around to see Agents Downer and Fields. Their voices were nasal and mocking.

"Let us out!" Dawn blazed furiously. "We have Poke Techs..." she looked down to her wrist, where her Poke Tech religiously rested. It wasn't there. Dawn blustered on, "We'll contact someone! Let us out, now! It's illegal to keep us in here!"

"Yeah," Agent Downer said. "It is."

"We should let them go," said Agent Fields, mock-concerned.

"Nah," Agent Downer said.

They laughed. Ash launched himself at the bars. "Let us go, or..." he paused, looking dramatic but really searching his brain for something to threaten these people with. "Pikachu will blow this place to bits," he finished.


End file.
